册 (cè) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

册

cè[ce4]Tone 4

book

HSK 5

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冊

Guru Deep Dive

English · book

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Topology:Single character

Strokes:5

Writing Balance Rule: Keep the vertical spacing of the horizontal strokes uniform, and ensure the final curved vertical stroke (or vertical hook depending on standard script) anchors the right side.

1. Meaning

book, booklet, volume

classifier for books, documents, or volumesregister, record, or list

Noun / ClassifierNeutral#literature#objects#counting

Sample Usage

这本册子很实用。
zhè běn cèzi hěn shíyòng.
This booklet is very practical.
相册里有很多照片。
xiàngcè lǐ yǒu hěnduō zhàopiàn.
There are many photos in the photo album.

2. Sound

/[tsʰɤ⁵¹]/Tone: 51

册

cèce4

`(51)

=cè

Initial Consonant

Type: Aspirated Dental Sibilant

Sounds like: ts sound

Aspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Sharp burst of air through teeth! Tissue MUST flutter strongly.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Tongue tip touches back of upper teeth, releasing a strong puff of air.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -e vowel group

Sounds like: rhymes with eh in pet

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'uh'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Tone

T4 (51)

5 → 1 (51)

4th Tone (High-Falling)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 4 starts high and plunges sharply down, identical to an emphatic single-syllable command like 'No!' in English.

👂

Listening trap: Do not confuse with 'chè' (retroflex initial) or the third tone 'cě'. Ensure crisp 'ts' onset.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: A sharp, downward karate chop motion matching Tone 4, starting high and dropping abruptly.

3. Writing

Topology: Single character · Strokes: 5 strokes

4. Components

Radical 冂 · Upside-down Box Radical (border, enclosure)

Ancient bamboo strips (Vertical strokes) tied together tightly with a cord (Horizontal binding lines) to form a book.

丨 Represents individual bamboo slats or wooden tablets used for writing in ancient China
一 Represents the binding cord holding the slats together

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

4· Phonetic Root: 册 (cè)

5. History

Liushu category: Pictogram (象形)

Origin: In Oracle Bone script, 册 depicts several thin bamboo slats (vertical lines) bound together in the middle by one or two horizontal cords, representing an ancient book before paper was invented.

Semantic Evolution: Originally meaning a bound bundle of bamboo writing strips, it evolved to mean any book, register, or bound document, and eventually became a counter for books and albums.

Before the invention of paper, Chinese texts were written with brush and ink on strips of bamboo or wood strung together into bundles called 册.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: サク (saku) / サツ (satsu)

🇰🇷

Hanja (Korean)

책

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

Imagine ancient bamboo slats lined up vertically like fence posts, with horizontal ropes bound around them to keep them together as a 'book' (册).

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

删

shānto deleteAdd a knife (刂) on the left to cut away text from the book (册).

扁

biǎnflatPlace the book (册) inside a doorway (户), making it compressed and flat.

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

再(zài)

'再' means 'again' and has a different inner structure with horizontal and vertical crossbars, whereas '册' clearly shows parallel strips bound by a cord.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

老师发给我们每人一___新书。

Clue: cè

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the character structure with '再' (zài) or forgetting that the vertical strokes represent bamboo slats tied together.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: When you see the character 册 containing parallel vertical strips bound by horizontal lines, what does it mean and how is it read?

Production: How do you write the 5-stroke pictographic character for 'book' or 'volume' (cè)?

册cèbook

Speed:

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